MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. –With double-digit kills from a pair of freshmen, the Georgia College volleyball team (5-3, 1-0 PBC) started Peach Belt Conference (PBC) play off on the right foot Friday at the Centennial Center, beating the University of Montevallo (6-4, 0-1 PBC) in five sets.

After dropping the first set 25-20, the Bobcats evened the match on a 25-23 set. The teams then swapped 25-17 sets before the Bobcats took the deciding frame 15-13.

"This team played with a lot of heart tonight," said head coach Gretchen Krumdeick. "It's amazing what happens when we relax and have fun."

Rookie Ebony Powers (Jacksonville, Florida) led the Bobcats with 14 kills, hitting .250. Classmate Taylor Svehla (Cumming) added 13 of her own, hitting .269.

Junior Caroline Long (Roswell) was a force, tallying nine kills and team-highs with seven blocks and 21 digs, respectively. Freshman setter Kayla Brockway (Jacksonville, Florida) had a 44-assist, 21-dig double-double, while sophomore Katie Ray (Cumming) also tied for the team lead with 21 digs.

Brockway extends her streak of double-doubles to five straight matches in the win. The Bobcats are now 2-1 in PBC lid-lifters, all three matches coming against Montevallo.

The final set was perhaps the most tightly-contested, featuring four lead changes and nine ties. The final one came at 13-13 on a kill by UM's Chandler Cooper. Following that tie, Svehla knocked one down, and a ball-handling error by the Falcons closed the match. Svehla had three kills and one total block in the final set.

The Bobcats are back in action tomorrow, Sept. 19 at 5 p.m., playing host to Columbus State University.

The Georgia College Department of Athletics, two-time winners of the PBC Commissioner's Cup, sponsors 11 varsity athletic programs at the NCAA Division II level. As a Division II program, Bobcat Athletics prides itself on balancing the life of the student-athlete, evidenced by the teams' multiple appearances in post-season competition as well as documented academic success and community-service involvement. Sign up at @GCBobcats on all social media formats for up-to-the-minute reports, and visit GCBobcats.PhotoReflect.com to purchase photo prints from home athletic contests.